Phantom takes off and rises, but immediately comes back down

[PortlandPicture]

Last week I hit a tree branch 10-feet off the ground and came down hard. Nothing appeared damaged, but one of the propellers did NOT want to unscrew. I was able to remove it and the rotor still spins but with the SLIGHTEST little hiccup. I fired everything back up and was able to take off.

Unfortunately, once I get up about 30 or 50 feet, the lights start blinking red rapidly and if I don't hold UP on the left throttle then it wants to come down. Everything else works well, I can fly smooth and the FPV is working, too (Here's my FPV setup: http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22910#p209934). But after 20-30 seconds following takeoff it wants to come back down.

I tried it again yesterday and while it was coming back down by itself, every once in a while it would start blinking green again for 5-10 seconds before switching to the rapid red lights and descending. Any ideas what could be going on?

 

[Buckaye]

Re: Phantom takes off and rises, but immediately comes back

sounds like it is losing GPS signal or compass signal? I would open her up and check to see if any solder joints got cracked when you wrecked.

Also - wonder if that slightly bent rotor pin may be heating up?

Not a Phantom expert at all - but have been around heli's long enough to know a 10 ft drop after a branch hit could have definitely popped a solder joint.

Good luck!

 

[OI Photography]

Re: Phantom takes off and rises, but immediately comes back

Sounds like it thinks your battery isn't charged, and/or you're suffering from the same early auto-land others have been experiencing: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17324

 

[lustang89]

Re: Phantom takes off and rises, but immediately comes back

Its a bad battery trust me

 

[HarryT]

Re: Phantom takes off and rises, but immediately comes back

Definitely sounds like it's going into "autoland" due to a faulty battery. Do you have IOSD? If so, watch the battery charge level on your monitor and see what it shows. Do you have another battery you could try it with?

 

[ianwood]

Re: Phantom takes off and rises, but immediately comes back

Did you check each motor after the crash?

 

[PortlandPicture]

Re: Phantom takes off and rises, but immediately comes back

Thanks for the battery tips. Oddly enough, even though it had three green lights indicating a mostly-charged battery while on the P2, once I plugged it into the wall it was immediately showed a drained battery. I let it fully charge and then was able to get a normal flight... However, it did start rapidly blinking red a few times during my final descent (maybe 10 minutes into the flight).

I popped the top off and nothing appeared to be damaged at all. The only lingering issue is that the single motor has a hell of a time letting me screw or unscrew the blade. If that's the only issue, I can live with that.

Thanks again!!

 

[xstatic]

Re: Phantom takes off and rises, but immediately comes back

I have the same issue. I hit a tree at about shoulder height. It was a slow movement into bushy trees so no hard whack, but it did fall a few feet.

I can take off for about 6 seconds, then it comes to do an auto land. The battery is fully charged. I have 8 to work with and it does the same on the few I tested. I put the phantom one on the bench and plugged in the usb and ran the naza software. It shows exact voltage I register on the volt tester we all use. So you think there is a cold solder joint? Anyone fix their problem?